Mother grew organically from experimentation with limb IK and procedural animation, naturally taking on a theme of exploration using touch. Being centered around slow and methodical movement, the world constructed for the game is neither hostile nor friendly, but dead and uncaring, for better or for worse; there to be uncovered. The character and environment design attempt to convey a sense of carrying precious cargo to an unknown destination.

​

The player controls a blind spider-like creature, able to climb over any surface and feeling its way through the world. Both player and creature are only aware of a small portion of the world at any given time, sensing it vaguely through sounds and vibrations.

​

Mother's unorthodox setting leads to unique design challenges: the visuals need to convey a reliance on senses other than sight for navigation, while also maintaining a balance between a feeling of exploration, and of being lost; the environment must evoke a narrative without utilizing classic visual storytelling techniques; it should be navigable even though its vast majority is invisible at any given time, and any of its surfaces is a viable path.

​

The organic, creaturelike character design also presents implementation challenges: each of the limbs must be navigated through arbitrary geometries, and all of them believably choreographed by higher-order logic; the player's intentions should be consolidated into this complex decision-making process without feeling obtrusive; to help sell the blindness of the creature, the inputs to its navigation logic should be limited — in practice, it utilizes only player input and data gained from physical contact with the world.